Tehran Summons Kuwait Envoy to Protest About ‘Anti-Iran’ Meet
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JUMADA ALAWWAL 3, 1441 AH SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2019 28 Pages Max 21º Min 07º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18022 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Kazakhstan observes day of As crisis hits, Lebanese Pompadour and rooster cuts: Everton feel Ancelotti bounce as 6 mourning after fatal jet crash 11 businesses fight for survival 21 Iraqi styles sculpt ‘revolution’ 28 Brighton, Watford secure wins Tehran summons Kuwait envoy to protest about ‘anti-Iran’ meet US: Iran could take ‘provocative actions’ • Iraq attack kills US contractor GENEVA: Iran summoned Kuwait’s envoy in behind the attacks. locus of international tension, with the United Tehran yesterday to protest about Kuwaiti “I think they’re going to continue to per- States exerting pressure for Iranian crude oil officials meeting a representative of a “terror- form provocative actions over there... and I sales and other trade ties to be cut off, mainly ist group” and hosting an “anti-Iranian” think they’ll look at every opportunity they through extensive sanctions. The Gulf of meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a can to do that,” Modly told Reuters, without Oman is a particularly sensitive waterway as statement on its website. The ministry did not giving a timeline or details. “There’s nothing it connects to the Strait of Hormuz - through provide any more details about the group that suggests to me, short of a regime change which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes - concerned or about which Kuwaiti officials there, that you have a different tone set from which in turn connects to the Gulf. had met the group’s representative. the leadership, that would suggest to me that Asked if he expected Iran to lash out in the “These kinds of actions are clear interfer- they’re going to stop doing what they’ve been region as a result of internal protests, Modly ence in the internal affairs of the Islamic doing,” he added. said he had not seen intelligence on that. Republic of Iran and a violation of the princi- Since May, the Pentagon has sent 14,000 Demonstrations against a hike in fuel prices ple of good neighborly relations and friendly additional troops to the region to deter Iran, turned political last month in Iran, sparking statements from Kuwaiti officials,” the Iranian including an aircraft carrier. Modly suggested the bloodiest crackdown in the 40-year his- foreign ministry’s representative for the Gulf that US reactions to Iranian actions could tory of the Islamic Republic. About 1,500 said, according to the statement. take away from the Pentagon’s focus toward people were killed during less than two Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly priorities like countering China. “As they start weeks of unrest, three Iranian interior min- said on Friday that Iran could carry out creating mischief over there... our reaction is istry officials told Reuters. “provocative actions” in the Strait of Hormuz we send an aircraft carrier over there for 10 The four days of joint naval drills come at a and elsewhere in that region in the future months,” he said. “What does that do to our time of heightened tensions since the United despite a period of relative calm, Tensions in carrier readiness? It degrades readiness the States withdrew from a landmark 2015 the Gulf have mounted since attacks on oil longer it’s over there.” nuclear deal with Iran in May last year. “The tankers this summer, including off the coast of Modly’s warning on future actions coin- message of this exercise is peace, friendship CHABAHAR, Iran: A handout photo shows Iranian seamen saluting the Russian Navy the United Arab Emirates, and a major strike cides with China, Iran and Russia beginning and lasting security through cooperation and Neustrashimyy-class frigate “Yaroslav Mudry” moored at this Gulf of Oman port city on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Washington joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean and Gulf unity... and its effect will be to show that Iran during Iran-Russia-China joint naval drills on Friday. — AFP has blamed Iran, which has denied being of Oman. Waters around Iran have become a Continued on Page 24 Omar Sadeq, KOC manager of East Kuwait opera- Volunteers plant 5,000 tions, also in charge of the reserve, said planting at the protected location has continued since opening the reserve in 2011. Work kicked off by greening 1.1 million tree saplings in Kuwait square meters of land. Later, 1.7 million sq m of land was planted and in the third phase, the greening cov- KUWAIT: Some 300 volunteers planted, in only two ered five million square meters of land. This reserve is hours yesterday, up to 5,000 tree saplings in Al-Abdaliya an ambitious environmental project located in West natural reserve west of Kuwait City, in the latest effort to Kuwait within the operational areas of the KOC. It aims beautify Kuwait and improve the climate. Dr Ameera Al- tackling environmental damage and restoring life and Hassan, Director of UN-Habitat (United Nations Human biodiversity to the desert. Settlements Program), said in a statement to the press the Al-Abdaliya reserve has been carved out to create saplings were planted in line with global sustainable better conditions for wildlife, plants and animals development objectives, with cooperation between UN- through the creation of lakes with surrounding hills Habitat and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). for desert plants such as al-arfaj, al-arti, al-ramth, al- Greening is not merely an act of beautification; it is qarsi and others that grow in Kuwait. Kuwait, along rather a basic need for the environment and population of with associations, volunteers and NGOs, has been Kuwait, she said, indicating that the shrubs and trees are sparing no effort to green the country, with natural necessary to alleviate impact of dust storms and heat. The reserves and public parks including many trees. planting was part of the “Kuwait Plants” campaign Trees and plants, particularly palm trees, decorate launched on Oct 31, 2019, coinciding with the World public places and streets. A sophisticated irrigation Cities Day. The campaign also aims at encouraging and system keeps them alive and green during the very KUWAIT: Volunteers plant a tree sapling in Al-Abdaliya natural reserve yesterday. — KUNA nudging campers to plant trees in the desert, she added. hot summer. — KUNA The attack has not been claimed, how- News in brief Massive bomb ever Mogadishu is regularly hit by car bombings and attacks waged by Al- UAE denies developing app Shabaab Islamist militants allied to Al- kills at least 78 Qaeda. President Mohamed Abdullahi DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates yesterday Farmaajo condemned the attack in com- denied reports that a popular mobile application in Mogadishu ments carried by the Somalia national developed in the country was used for government news agency SONNA. “This enemy spying. Apple and Google removed the ToTok app MOGADISHU: A massive car bomb works to implement the destructive will of from their marketplaces last week following a report exploded in a busy area of Mogadishu international terrorism, they have never claiming it allowed the UAE government to track yesterday, leaving at least 78 people done anything positive for this our coun- users’ conversations, movements and other details. dead, many of them university students, in try, they have not constructed a road, But the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Somalia’s deadliest attack in two years. never built hospitals and not education Authority said in a statement that UAE laws “pro- The blast occurred at a busy intersection centers as well,” he said. “All they do is hibit any kind of data breach and unlawful intercep- southwest of the Somali capital where the destruction and killing and the Somali tion”. It continued: “The TRA reaffirms that all certi- presence of a security checkpoint and a public are well informed about this.” fied telecommunications applications in the UAE are tax office often cause traffic jams. Scores Many of those killed are believed to be in compliance with these standards.” — AFP of wounded were carried on stretchers university students whose bus was hit by from the site, where the force of the the blast. Two Turkish nationals also died, explosion left the charred and twisted police said. MOGADISHU: The wreckage of a car that was destroyed during a car bomb attack remains of vehicles. Continued on Page 24 is seen yesterday. — AFP Mars 2020 rover to seek life, prepare human missions Six killed in Egypt bus crash PASADENA, California: The Mars “It’s designed to seek the signs of life, so 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red we’re carrying a number of different CAIRO: A road crash in Egypt killed six people, Planet next year, will not only search for instruments that will help us understand including tourists from India and Malaysia, and traces of ancient life, but pave the way the geological and chemical context on injured at least 24 others yesterday, security and for future human missions, NASA scien- the surface of Mars,” deputy mission medical sources said. The accident occurred when tists said Friday as they unveiled the leader Matt Wallace told AFP. two buses carrying tourists crashed into a truck vehicle. The rover has been constructed Among the devices on board the east of Cairo on the road to the Ain Sokhna resort in a large, sterile room at the Jet rover are 23 cameras, two “ears” that will on the Red Sea, a security official told AFP. A med- Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near allow it to listen to Martian winds, and ical source said two female Malaysian tourists and Los Angeles, where its driving equip- lasers used for chemical analysis.